Brown County official seeks state post

April 03, 2007|By Scott Waltman, American News Writer

The head of the Brown County Commission is seeking another office. Deb Knecht, who is also chairwoman of the Brown County Democrats, is running for chairwoman of the South Dakota Democratic Party. The election is Dec. 9 in Chamberlain. If elected, she would retain her spot on the county commission. "I want to see the party move forward, and I think I have the tools to help it do that," Knecht said. Other people seeking the post are recent gubernatorial candidate Jack Billion of Sioux Falls, air traffic controller Glen Rice of Sioux Falls and Bill Walsh of Rapid City, former owner of the Franklin Hotel in Deadwood. Judy Olson Duhamel, current party chairwoman, is not seeking re-election. "I have enjoyed my tenure as state party chairwoman, and I'm proud of what we have accomplished, especially the significant gains we made in the state Senate," Duhamel said in a press release. Duhamel helped the party establish McGovern Day and Daschle Day during her nearly eight-year tenure. Knecht, who lives near Houghton, said that if she's elected she will spend time visiting South Dakota's 66 counties to help local Democratic Party groups get better organized. She hopes that will help the party make political gains at the state level. The state party chairwoman or chairman is also the point person on issues and, at times, responds to the actions of politicians in other parties. Friday, Knecht was campaigning in Sioux Falls. She said she'll be in Mitchell next week and might visit Rapid City before the election. At the state Democratic Party's Central Committee meeting, where the vote will be, the party chairwoman or chairman, vice chairwoman or vice chairman, committeeman and committeewoman from each county will cast votes. The votes are weighted based on how many people from each county voted in the election earlier this month. The term is for four years. The state party chairwoman or chairman is not paid but is compensated for expenses. On the Republican side: The head of the Republican party in South Dakota is also stepping down. Randy Frederick of Hayti, the GOP chairman since 2004, said he plans to retire from the job in February. Frederick said the GOP chairmanship "does take a ton of time and I can't devote that amount of time to it." Frederick said it will be up to the state party central committee to choose a new chair. The Associated Press contributed to this report.